The director of the Shatskyi National Park will be tried for fraud involving a million hryvnias

The director of the Shatskyi National Park will be tried for fraud involving a million hryvnias
Katerina Belousova

The director is accused of abuse of office and forgery of documents

In Volyn, the director of the Shatsky National Nature Park will be tried for committing crimes as part of an organized group.

She is suspected of hiring dead souls and embezzling their salaries for more than a million hryvnias, the Volyn Regional Prosecutor's Office reports on Facebook.

It is noted that the prosecutors of the department sent an indictment to the court in a criminal proceeding on the seizure of someone else's property in particularly large amounts. The director is also accused of abuse of office and forgery of documents.

According to the investigation, the official involved her roommate, her deputy and two heads of the national park departments in the criminal scheme. She employed six people who, from October 2021 to June 2022, received salaries, but did not perform work and were not present at workplaces. However, time sheets were kept.

"Salaries were paid to these employees, so more than a million hryvnias from the budget were wasted. As it turned out, the "workers" gave all these funds to the roommate of the official - and they were used by the accomplices at their discretion," the prosecutors said.

The message emphasized that five defendants involved in the criminal scheme will appear before the court.

As EcoPolitic previously reported, the director of the Shatskyi National Nature Park in Volyn, Maria Khristecka, was suspected of employing eight "dead souls", as well as of organizing a criminal group of several employees, for which the woman faces up to 12 years in prison.

Related
Digest of environmental crimes: widespread corruption among forestry officials and environmental pollution
Digest of environmental crimes: widespread corruption among forestry officials and environmental pollution

Most of the crimes uncovered involve foresters implicated in illegal logging, the embezzlement of public funds and negligence, which is causing damage to the forests

The State Bureau of Investigation has launched a special operation, ‘Green Shield’, to tackle forestry corruption and illegal logging
The State Bureau of Investigation has launched a special operation, ‘Green Shield’, to tackle forestry corruption and illegal logging

The Bureau is identifying all those involved and intends to ensure that the millions in losses are recouped

Landscape park to make way for mining: the ‘Malovanka’ plot is to be sold at auction
Landscape park to make way for mining: the ‘Malovanka’ plot is to be sold at auction

The Ministry of Economy had pointed out that the plot was part of a protected area, but this did not affect the sale

A former deputy director of the ‘Bukovel’ resort has acquired hundreds of hectares of land in the Carpathian Svidivets range
A former deputy director of the ‘Bukovel’ resort has acquired hundreds of hectares of land in the Carpathian Svidivets range

The tender was won by an individual who is also the company’s founder. It is not known what will happen to some of the valuable plots of land